There Goes My Week
by AzureSkye23
Summary: Being friends with both Crackers and Duilin, I suppose it was inevitable I would get pulled into the world of the Plushies. Still, I was not expecting the box on my front step. Thank you, Duilin. And now, Crackers has gotten into the fun. I'm so very, very doomed. Part of the Plush Toy Collaboration.
1. Prologue

If I'd known what it was, I would have gotten the loud knocking, still in pajamas or not, and hopefully diverted all of this. But I, being clueless–and in those aforementioned pajamas–left whoever was knocking to come to the conclusion no one was home, and let them leave.

Then, since I was now awake, and nothing was–unfortunately–going to change that fact anytime soon, despite how poorly I'd slept the night before, I got up, and got ready. Dressed, hair wet, and contacts in, it struck me that I should probably go check if the people who had woken me up this morning had left something taped to my door, or on my step.

So, with almost no concern, I sauntered to my front door, and pulled it open. A large box, almost seven feet long, lay there. It was lucky that I was on the top floor, and no one lives in the apartment just across the small landing, because there would be no way for them to get inside their door. Still, it didn't stop me from groaning in anticipatory recognition.

Of course I recognized the box. How could I not? I was friends with both of the interesting individuals who came up with the idea of the plushies in the first place, after all. Apparently, it was time I joined the fun.

I was doomed.

Thankfully though, I was less doomed than I could have been. The Valar (or Duilin) must have taken pity on me, because none of my roommates were home. One had just moved out, and the other had gone back home for a week and a half, leaving me on my own.

Which was a very good thing, because while my remaining roommate had seen Lord of the Rings, she had never read the books, and I'm not sure she had even heard of the Silmarillion. Explaining this to her would have been a challenge I did *not* want to have to deal with.

Not to mention she flirts with almost anything male that will stay still long enough for her to talk to. While that had the potential to be amusing, it also had the potential to be mentally scaring, or slightly dangerous, if I'd gotten one of the more touchy characters.

But all these thoughts came later. The only coherent thought I had as I was staring at that box was:

There goes my week.


	2. Day One: Friday

Well, the first order of business after finding a box that contained a life size plushie that was going to come alive–and may or may not try to kill me–on my porch, was to get the thing inside. Thankfully, I'm used to moving furniture around, and things slide easily on my carpet: even boxes. Once inside, I let the door shut quickly. I did not need the questions I would get if anyone saw the box.

I grabbed the envelope that was attached to the top of the box, checking it quickly for a name. Duilin. I should have known. I moved quickly back into my room for my letter-opener. I hated opening envelopes by hand. Opening it, I read the short note from my online friend of dubious sanity.

Dear Skye:

Congratulations on joining our dysfunctional group of Silmarillion character torturers!

You can't plead the survival of your roommates anymore, so you get to join the fun. And just so you know, this is your version of this character. Which means you can't complain I'm trying to kill you, either. Remember, it's adrenaline that adds spice to life!

Duilin

I stared at the letter, apprehension curling in my stomach. There was only one character that I re-interpreted enough to warrant Duilin telling me about it.

"Remind me *why* one of my favorite characters is the dysfunctional Maia?" I asked myself rhetorically, as I brought my left hand up to rub the bridge of my nose. It was a very good thing this was my incarnation, as the normal fanon version would almost certainly kill me, and then go on to take over the world. As it was, I was going to have to tread carefully.

Sighing to myself, I quickly grabbed my scissors and returned to the living room. I briefly debated *not* opening the box, but decided that he'd probably get out anyway, and then he'd just be annoyed with me. Being cautious, I knocked on the box.

"Are you awake?" I called. A muffled reply met my ears. "Well, just so you know, I'm getting you out of there, so don't freak out," I said, before flipping the scissors open and using one edge like a blade. With some effort, the creative use of scissors, and a little help from the Maia in the box, I finally got a good look at the character that had been on my mind in one form or another since last October.

Sauron stood up and climbed out of that box, and I instantly felt short. Now, I'm 5'8, so 'short' is generally not a term I use to describe myself. But he was almost seven feet, so even if I had been wearing my highest heels, the ones that put me at 6'1, equal or taller than almost all the guys of my acquaintance, I'd still feel short.

I briefly debated which name to use for him, before deciding and sticking out my hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sauron. I'm Amanda." I said pleasantly. Speaking first gave me the advantage, as well as placing me in the role of the informant. A useful position, as if worst came to worst, it should at least keep me alive. His eyebrows rose slightly, and he took my hand gracefully.

"My pleasure," he replied.

"So how much do you know about this this world?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"Not as much as I would like," Sauron replied. "I know the language, some of the social customs. I suppose you could tell me more."

"Yes, but it will take a while," I said, chewing on my lower lip as I thought. "Are you interested in history as well? I have several books; most are just of this history of this country, but I do have a few world history books as well. It would enable you to understand the context for what you do know, and it will also let me get what I had planned to do today done. I'm afraid I wasn't expecting to have any visitors today," I said with a wry smile. "After you finish, I can answer any questions you have, as well as come up with a story for why you're here."

At his nod of ascent, I scurried back to my room to raid my bookcase. I have an impressive amount of books for someone who lives a semi-nomadic lifestyle. I quickly gathered four: my world history to 1500 textbook, _Guns, Germs, and Steel_ by Jared Diamond, an old US history textbook, and _America Ascendant_ which was US history from 1890 to 1945. _Guns, Germs, and Steel_ and _America Ascendant _were both rather large books, and I felt confident that I could use them to entertain my unexpected guest for at least one day with them.

Having Sauron safely ensconced on the couch with plenty of reading material, I turned my attention to my first task of the day: dishes. My roommate hadn't had time to do hers before she left, and I had a good stack of my own to do. I was tired of them sitting there, and in the mood to clean: possibly because it was something completely ordinary, compared to the Maia sitting on my couch.

I don't have a dishwasher, so I do all my dishes by hand. I never minded doing so, enjoyed it even, before it was a necessity to do every day. Now, it's a chore that has to be done if I want a clean kitchen.

"Do you mind if I turn on music?" I asked, because I don't like having my headphones plugged into my computer when I'm moving around, and my phone had been having some issues working right with my headphones lately. Sauron glanced up from the book he had been reading: my world history textbook.

"I don't mind," he replied equably. I nodded.

"Well, let me know if it bothers you," I said, before turning on my iTunes. I had been listening to Skillet lately, and I didn't think that there was anything in there that would be triggering to Sauron–though I knew that playing Linkin Park while he was here would be a bad idea. See, my music is very rarely related to my own life, but rather to my stories. So I would need to watch what I listened to in order to avoid reactions that I didn't want from my guest.

So I set the music loud enough to hear over the running water, and hoped to high heavens that I wouldn't annoy Sauron too badly. Then I lost myself in the rhythm of scrubbing and rinsing dishes, all the time making sure I kept my long hair out of the suds, with moderate success.

I almost froze when Falling Inside the Black came on. That one I found to go on my playlist for my next story, and Sauron could relate to it. Hopefully he would either not catch it, or not react if he did. Thankfully nothing happened, and my morning continued into the early afternoon with three loads of dishes, breaks in between for answering email and reading fanfic, and straightening/cleaning the living room. By two, the front of the apartment was cleaner than it had been in about three months (my roommate is slightly messy) and I was debating between taking a nap and cleaning the bathroom. A nap probably would have won out had I been alone, but since I had a guest, I cleaned the bathroom.

Finally finishing, I more or less gracefully collapsed on the couch, and debated what to make for dinner. I finally decided on ravioli: quick and easy, but tasty and filling.

"Sauron?" I said, noticing with amusement that he was now three-quarters of the way through _America Ascendant. _"Have you ever had ravioli?"

"No," he replied, his tone inquiring.

"It's various cheeses inside pasta, boiled and served covered in a tomato sauce," I explained quickly. "If you have no objections, that's what I'm making for dinner."

He had none, and that's how I ended up with the rather disconcerting experience of eating ravioli at my kitchen table across from Sauron, thanking my lucky stars that I have the strange ability to eat almost any sort of red sauce and not spill, even when I'm wearing white.

"So, I'm thinking the easiest thing might be to tell everyone you're my cousin," I said. I received an interesting and polite look that invited me to continue without giving away any of his feelings about the idea. So continue I did.

"It's a distant enough relationship to explain the extreme disparity in our looks, but close enough to explain why you'd be visiting. It will also keep anyone from wondering if there is anything going on between us."

I was proud I managed to say that last sentence without blushing. Frankly though, I did not want the speculation that would come from me staying with an extremely attractive guy. Because there was no way I could explain that he was actually a Maia who was older than the universe and the main villain in an extremely popular book and movie franchise. Yeah. That would go over well.

"That might work well," Sauron said thoughtfully. "Where would I be from?"

"My family's from back east," I told him. "The Carolinas: all the way back to the 1600s. So if you say your from...Columbia, South Carolina, that should work, and I would be able to fill in all the family details necessary."

The conversation continued in this vein, fleshing out a cover story so he didn't have to stay cooped in my apartment constantly, deciding on an age for him to be, (27. He looked it, and it wasn't too far away from my own to seem odd) and why he was visiting me.

Once that was figured out, he went back to his books, while I cleaned up and did some homework. I knew I wasn't going to get much done this weekend. Finally it grew late, and I rearranged the furniture, shoving my two couches together, and dug out every spare blanket I owned, fixing a comfortable pallet on the couch for Sauron. Then I got ready for bed, thinking that this first day hadn't been too bad, and hoping that I just might be able to survive. It looked like I wouldn't have to kill Duilin after all.


	3. Day Two: Saturday

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.

No, wait, wrong story.

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a singe college student who has just been saddled with a Tolkien character is going to need more food than she has on hand.

That's more like it.

So, since the aforementioned sentence was rather true in my case, the first order of business on that Saturday morning was a trip to the grocery store. No big problem, right?

Hah.

I had forgotten one very important thing, namely, just what everyone thinks when a man (or a Maia doing his best to blend in) and a women who look nothing alike walk down the street together, and that my cover story wouldn't work on someone who hadn't heard it. Oh, joy. I was thanking my lucky stars that I did not blush easily, and calling on all my acting skills to pretend I was completely oblivious to the subtle glares and catty looks I was getting from pretty much the entire female population we were running into. *Why* did the Maia have to be so good looking? Add to that the fact I was almost certain that my acting ability wasn't fooling Sauron, and I was ready to hide in my apartment for the next week.

Again: thank you, Duilin.

Now, the grocery store I went to wasn't too far away, maybe a half-mile or so. However, it wasn't exactly fun to come back carrying all the stuff I bought. Also, I had no idea where they found their cashiers. Nowhere else have I been asked my opinion on international politics in a checkout line. Part of me was really amused at the idea this would be Sauron's introduction to grocery stores, but the other part was coldly certain this was going to blow up spectacularly.

Ah well. Enjoy the fireworks, I guess.

Now inside the store, I had another ally in my quest to ignore everyone else: my phone, which had my lovely little grocery list. Very quickly, I found myself getting things I'd never intended to, and being talked out of things that I'd always gotten, and planned on getting.

I mentally huffed as I put back the fettuccine alfredo freezer meals I loved. I didn't know what this implied: either I was a hopeless pushover, or I was already in the 'pick your battles' mindset. I hoped it was the later, otherwise this week was going to be really, really sad.

Of course, if what kind of food I bought was the only thing I got manipulated over this week, I would consider myself extremely lucky.

Again, why did I like (as Crackers puts it) the troubled Maia seeking world domination? Oh yes, he's ridiculously fun to write. It's the main problem with these plushies, the ones we like most are the ones most likely to cause considerable havoc.

What does that say about us?

I survived the checkout line, forcefully dragging Sauron away from the shortest line, which also happened to be manned by the cashier I recognized as the one who had asked me that question about politics. I was rather surprised he let me, though he did raise a questioning eyebrow.

"That cashier asks too many questions," I muttered under my breath, to quietly for anyone else to hear. He glanced over at her casually, then nodded once to me. The cashier we did get was one I'd never gotten before, as I usually went through the shortest line, which was generally with that girl. I'm a former political science major however, so I didn't mind it all that much.

I was chatting with the cashier casually, like most grocery story experiences, wondering if I was actually going to get out of here without something going wrong. I really should have known better.

"Woah, dude, your eyes are golden!" the cashier said suddenly, and I had the sudden urge to bang my head on the counter.

"Contacts," I said quickly, before Sauron had to come up with an answer. "He actually has amber eyes, but uses contacts to turn them true gold."

"Cool," the cashier said, impressed, as I mentally congratulated myself on the made up answer. I had no idea if it was even possible to use contacts in the way I had just insinuated.

"You wear contacts too?" he then asked, which I didn't mind if it took the attention from the not-humanly-possible eye color of the Maia.

"I do, but they're not colored," I responded. I get asked that question a lot, as my eyes are a shade of blue that usually comes only with contacts.

"Well, your kids eyes are going to be pretty cool, that's all I have to say," the cashier said, and again, I had the overwhelming urge to at least slam my head into my palm.

"We're cousins," I said with a tolerant smile.

"Oh," the cashier said, backpedaling, "Um, sorry."

"It's fine. We look nothing alike, after all," I replied, as he handed me my receipt, and Sauron and I gathered up all the bags. One standard wish for a good day behind us, and I sighed, low and controlled, as we walked out the sliding doors. Sauron eyed them out of the corner of his eye, and I got the feeling that he was going to steal my computer again when we got back.

"Well," he said softly as we left. "That was…interesting."

"That's one way of putting it," I said wryly.

"Are humans these days usually that forward?" he asked, and I wanted to hit him. I didn't, one because that would just be stupid, and for another my hands were full of bags.

"No," I admitted, "but most people who see us do probably think we're together. I kinda forgot that for a cover story to work, people actually have to hear it. "

"Ah," he said. Thankfully, his attention seemed to be caught by the cars. He'd been watching them curiously the whole time they'd been in his line of vision, and I knew from checking the history on my internet that he'd researched them thoroughly.

"Useful things," he mused. "Though horses are usually quieter."

"True, but horses bring their own set of problems," I pointed out, grateful for the subject change. "Besides the fact that cars don't get tired and can go farther, you have to feed and groom horses, as well as care for tack and shoes and the like. Cars are much more convenient, as long as you have a good mechanic."

"You sound like you know about horses," Sauron commented.

"I rode when I was younger," I admitted. "I've always loved horses, and begged my parents until they got me lessons. I started when I was nine, and continued for…four or five years," I said after some quick mental counting. "But just a few years ago, I was around them again and broke out in hives. I'm apparently allergic: I would sneeze a lot when I was younger as well. Of course, I might be allergic to hay rather than horses, as the pony I rode was allergic to hay as well, and so kept away from it."

"That's unfortunate," Sauron commented. "I was starting to think you were descended from the Rohirrim, what with you hair and your instinctual love of horses."

"I wouldn't call it instinctual," I said. "I got my first toy horse at five, and that's what started it. Before that, it was dinosaurs, and before that, cows."

"Cows?" he asked, amusement in his voice.

"I was two," I retorted. "And I had a stuffed one that mooed."

"Still," he said, beginning to grin. "Cows?"

I sighed. "Cows," I agreed dryly.

We had reached the only intersection on our route, and I shifted the bags around in my hands to push the fun little button.

"I can take some of those," Sauron offered.

"I'm fine," I assured him, but was ignored as he deftly slid his hand through the handles and slipped them out of my hand. I didn't argue. The walk home with the heavy bags was always my least favorite part of the whole trip, and if he was willing to carry them, I wasn't going to complain. There were other people on the sidewalk now, close enough to hear us, so we mostly stayed quiet until we got back to my place. Three flights of stairs up, and I walked into my apartment with a soft sigh, all but dropping the bags on the kitchen floor.

"So," Sauron said as he copied me, and I started digging though them for the perishables. "What are contacts?"

"Small plastic disks worn on the cornea of the eye," I answered as I opened the fridge. "They can be used for purely aesthetic purposes, which is what I told that cashier, or to correct vision."

"I can understand the aesthetic idea, but how do they correct vision?" Sauron asked, handing me items to put away.

"Often the problem people have with their vision is their eyes don't properly focus the light onto the back of the retina," I explained, putting the bread away. "The shape of the contacts distorts the light so that when it hits the back of the eye, it is actually clear."

Sauron nodded thoughtfully as I put away the last few items. "So what do they look like?" he asked. I shrugged.

"Small, concave disks," I answered. "Here."

I popped my right one out, probably shocking the Maia, though I couldn't see, as I was looking down. Gently grasping it by the edges, as I wear ridged gas permeable lenses, I held it up for his inspection, trying to adjust to the suddenly wildly different input between my eyes. Seeing with one contact in and the other out is actually harder than having both of them out.

"Hmm…" Sauron made an almost humming noise as he studied it. Then, shocking me, he gently grabbed my chin and tilted my head up to examine my eyes.

"Your eyes are slightly more grey without them," he said. I grinned sheepishly.

"They're tinted blue to make them harder to loose," I explained. "And so they turn the grey in my eyes a light blue. But *that* is my little secret."

I pulled free of his his grasp, and went to the bathroom to put my contact back in. I really prefer being able to see over being half blind.

"So how much difference do they have on your vision?" Sauron asked me, following, apparently not willing to give up the subject.

"A lot," I admitted. "Without them, I can see clearly maybe three inches with my right eye and six with my left. With them, and I have excellent vision. For a human," I added.

"Quite a difference," Sauron said, raising his eyebrows. I nodded, and the conversation ended until later that night. He again requested my computer, and spend most of the day looking up who knows what, while I, deprived of my usual source of entertainment, grabbed the final book in the Fablehaven series to keep myself amused.

But that night, the subject of my contacts came back up.

"You're not wearing your contacts now?" Sauron asked, almost randomly, as I exited the bathroom.

"Nope," I said, "I'm pretty much blind at the moment."

"You don't act it," he countered. I shrugged.

"I've been living here almost nine months, my spacial memory is good enough now that I can walk through here with the lights off, I don't need to see," I explained. "But even if I didn't, I can still see well enough not to run into things. Everything just looks like giant blobs of color."

"So you can see color normally?" he asked, apparently finding my vision–or lack there of–interesting.

"No, actually, although I just figured that out," I admitted. "I was talking with my roommate with my contacts out, and said she was wearing red–it turned out she was wearing hot pink, and I couldn't tell the difference."

"Hmm…" Again, there was that almost humming noise of interest and curiosity. It was the same pitch as the one earlier, or very close to it, the musical part of my brain noted.

"Close your eyes," he said, and I complied. Gently, he placed fingers at the inner and outer corners of my eyes. Third and fourth, from the feel of it. I was pulled from that train of thought as a jolt seemed to race through me. He dropped his hands, and I opened my eyes, wondering just what that had been.

"I was sensing what the insides of your eyes were like," Sauron answered my unspoken question.

"And?" I asked, feeling slightly unbalanced by that. He shrugged.

"I've never done that to an Adaneth before, so I really have nothing to compare to," he admitted. "I was simply curious."

Normally I would have rolled my eyes to a statement like that, but I was still feeling unsettled by this conversation.

"Well...goodnight," I finally said after a slightly uncomfortable silence.

"Goodnight," he replied, and I made my way to bed.


	4. Day Three: Sunday

Sunday

The only reason I didn't throw the alarm that went off the next morning into the wall, was because it was on my phone. Which was the whole point, of course. I valued my phone to much to risk breaking it.

I hadn't slept well the night before, my brain working too much to settle down to sleep. It wasn't an unusual occurrence, and it was one that seemed to be getting worse the older I got.

'C'mon,' I was giving myself a mental pep talk. 'You have to get out of bed. It's Sunday, you have church. You can't sleep in until two.' Grumbling, I rolled out of bed, keeping my feet only through long practice. I hadn't bothered to get my glasses out of the bathroom the night before, so I blindly gathered what I needed before making my still half-asleep way to the bathroom.

Thirty minutes, and plenty of hot water later, I was mostly awake. It was a remedy I'd long used, driving everyone who ever lived with me to learn to take showers before I did, if they wanted hot water. (I had gotten shorter, when I was younger it was generally an hour.)

Once dressed, I had to face the the subject I'd been trying to avoid so far: my guest.

Grabbing my hairbrush, I began to slowly brush out my long, wet hair as I pulled my bedroom door open, heading out to the living room.

"Good morning," I said in a voice that couldn't really be called cheerful, but it wasn't as tired as I felt, so I felt it was good enough. "And please don't give me that long spiel Gandalf gives Bilbo in the Hobbit about what I mean by that." Sauron snickered at that.

"What would you answer if I did?" he asked.

"Questions like that deserve a one word answer, so in this case: yes," I replied dryly. "And just so you know, I did catch the fact you basically asked me the question anyway."

"I was curious," Sauron sort-of excused himself.

"Curiosity killed the cat," I responded with a yawn.

"I am not a cat," Sauron said firmly.

"You were in Tolkien's earliest conceptions," I pointed out, remembering Tevildo from the Book of Lost Tales. "But no, you're definitely a canine. It's just an expression." He seemed slightly mollified by that.

"Anyway, I'm off to church, so you can have my computer while I'm gone. Feel free to raid the pantries or the fridge if you want."

"You're not going to eat?" Sauron asked. I shook my head.

"I'm running late," I said. "I'll eat when I get back." I gathered up my keys and such, pulled on a pair of white flats, handed my computer to the Maia, and dashed out the door.

* * *

When I got home, I was even more ready to take a nap. And since I knew I wouldn't get very far reading the chapter I was supposed to for World History, and having no other homework as I was only taking two classes, (as the spring semester was accelerated, so students only took half the number of credits) I did so, after making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch, which was yet again a slightly surreal experience. Luckily, it seemed that Sauron wasn't a picky eater.

After I got up from my nap, I decided that I should actually make something for dinner, rather than the quick things I had been making up to this point. An investigation of my freezer resulted in my discovery of two frozen servings of halibut, which then led me to wonder how I was going to cook them. I'd originally bought them for a recipe my roommate had, but it was long and involved, and contained ingredients I didn't have.

One Google search later had me looking through my cookbook for any recipes calling for 'light fish'. I finally found one that was originally for tilapia, but I had all the ingredients for: all except the soy sauce, but my roommate had that. I doubted she would mind if I used a teaspoon, and besides, she had told me to feel free to use anything of hers before she left.

One hot water bath later, the halibut was defrosted, and I was mixing ingredients to coat said fish and fry it. Then came the fun part, also called 'hot oil hurts'.

"Why are you hissing?" Sauron asked me in a tone of voice that somewhere between curiosity and concern.

"The boiling oil in the pan doesn't like to stay there," I explained dryly. "This isn't as bad as cooking steak though. I fry them in about a centimeter of olive oil: tastes great, but hurts like none other when trying to flip it."

"Low pain tolerance?" he said, amused.

"Eh, only on the small stuff," I said. "I've broken both bones in my right forearm, and shattered two teeth due to a thrown rock, so it's not like I've never done things that hurt quite a bit. I handled both of those fairly well."

"Of course, those aren't exactly psychologically challenging," Sauron pointed out. I shrugged.

"I freaked out a bit when I realized I was missing a tooth; and again when I realized it was actually two," I said. "But you're right, there's a big difference between doing something stupid and getting hurt because of it, and standing up to someone deliberately hurting you. As for the second one…Well, I don't know. I've never faced a situation like that, not where the pain was physical, anyway." I shrugged again, flicking off the burner on the stove, and pulling the rice out of the microwave. Sauron was silent as I dished up the rice and fish and sat down at the table.

"Pain isn't really the best way to get someone to do something you want," he finally said. "Because they start hating you, and trying anything they can to fight back, even if they're too scared to do much."

"I've always felt," I said carefully, "and admittedly, I have no personal experience doing any of this, but I've always felt that being able to inspire someone to conviction would be the best way to go about convincing them to do something. Because someone who is truly committed to something is usually willing to do whatever it takes to complete that."

"I suppose," Sauron said slightly morosely, eyeing his fork.

Needless to say, that conversation put a bit of a damper on the rest of the evening, despite the fact the fish actually turned out pretty well. To top it off, when I finally went to bed, I found myself unable to sleep. I found this whole not-sleeping thing to be highly annoying. I normally told myself stories during the time it took me to go to sleep, but considering one of the usual characters from those stories was in my living room, it had somewhat lost its charm.

I sighed, shifting pillows and positions yet again, as I vainly tried to convince myself to shut down and sleep. It didn't work.

The sound of my door opening caught my attention, and I rolled over to watch as best I could with my contacts out as Sauron soundlessly entered.

"Can't sleep?" he asked quietly.

"Nope," I responded. "I couldn't last night, either. It happens."

"Roll over," Sauron said.

"Huh?" was my intelligent response.

"Roll over," he repeated, and confused, I did so. I stiffened instinctually when he placed a hand on my back, but then he began to sing softly, and I quickly relaxed as shining waves of music pulled me under and to sleep faster than I thought possible.

* * *

**This chapter...did not love me. At all. But hey, I finally managed to finish it...**

**ALSO: This is a notice for everyone who reads my work regularly: I am going to be taking an 18 month break from ****fan fiction in about three weeks. I won't be able to PM or respond to reviews during this time, but I will when I get back. If you like to talk to me a lot, feel free to PM me about snail-mailing, but that's the only way I'm going to be really in contact with people. **

**I'm going to try to get this story done before I leave...really. **


	5. Day Four: Monday

Monday

"So," Sauron said. "Mongols."

"Mongols," I agreed, wondering just what I'd done to deserved having my world history class covering that particular topic today.

"It's fairly impressive that one man conquered so much territory." Sauron mused.

"It's more impressive that it didn't completely fall apart after his death," I responded. "I mean, Alexander the Great managed to conquer quite a bit, including the Persian Empire, but everything fell apart after his death."

"Yes, that would be a problem for mortal rulers," Sauron mused. "An immortal wouldn't really have to worry about that, as they would never have to relinquish control."

"As long as the immortal was someone who could succeed at administration and actually ruling and not just conquering, then yes, immortality would be very helpful when trying to establish and maintain an empire," I said, resigning myself to the oddity of discussing this with an immortal Maia who had spent six and a half thousand years trying to conquer…well, everything.

"Unless, of course, you run into an empire greater than yours, which is also set on conquering everything in sight," Sauron added, irony clear in his voice.

"In which case, you insinuate yourself in their system of government and convince them to attack yet another stronger than they?" I asked, matching his tone. Sauron gave me an unexpectedly sparkling smile.

"Exactly," he replied. I snorted.

"I wonder how I guessed," I said, smiling in wry amusement.

I was actually in a fairly good mood, having slept remarkably well the night before. Never before could I remember waking up in exactly the same position I had fallen asleep in the night before. But needless to say, it had put me in a better mental state than I had been since I first found that box on my front landing. And really, not even discussing empires with Sauron was putting too much of a damper on my mood.

"My next class isn't going to be as interesting," I warned, as we got lunch, thus introducing Sauron to the very human idea of fast food. For the first time, he was eyeing it with a slightly dubious expression on his face. We didn't really have a choice, as there wasn't really time between classes to go back to my apartment and make lunch. I either brought it, bought it, or didn't eat. The last one happened with disturbing regularity.

"What is your next class?" Sauron asked me. "And are you sure this is edible?"

"Quite sure," I said briskly. "Though I can't promise you'll like the taste. My next class is Irish Genealogy." He gave me a look.

"Really?" he asked. I had no idea if he was talking about the food or the class so I went with a non specific answer.

"Yep," I said, and checked the time on my phone. Almost time to get to class.

Sauron only ate about half of what he had gotten, and I mentally promised to try to make something he would like for dinner, as well as crossing fast food off the list of acceptable foods. Then we headed to my next class, which consisted of about six people, to whom I promptly introduced my 'cousin'.

Three hours later, (alright, two and a half, but still) we walked out of there, my eyes half glazed over, and sore from sitting in a plastic seat that long. The only good thing was the professor had cancelled the class for Wednesday, to give us more time to work on our final projects.

"Have you started that project?" Sauron asked me when we were out of earshot from my classmates.

"Nope," I responded.

"Do you have enough time to do the full thirty hours you're supposed to do?" he asked me then.

"Nope," I responded again.

"So what are you doing to do?" he queried, amused. I shrugged.

"Make it up," I said. "It's not too difficult. I'd probably be doing that anyway, even if I had tried to do if before now. I'm rather regretting taking this class now."

"So you're leaving half your grade to the last minute?" Sauron asked in disbelief. I shrugged again.

"Yes," I admitted. "Last semester I left a twelve page paper until the day it was due…I still managed to get a B on it, though."

"An accomplished procrastinator, I take it," Sauron smirked. "Did you ever think that if you did that well with a first draft, if you had done it earlier you could have gotten full marks on it?"

"Now you sound like my mother," I muttered under my breath, though I was certain the Maia heard me. "Yes, I have thought of that. And I tell myself I really should do so next time. And then the next time comes, and I … don't."

"Ah," was the only response I got to that, and the walk home was completed in near silence. Once there, I all but collapsed on the couch.

"I don't know what I was thinking, planning my Mondays and Wednesdays so long," I complained. "Ah well, I'm almost done with it." I closed my eyes and leaned back, only to open them again when a small weight landed in my lap. I eyed my computer for a moment, then eyed the Maia that had put it there.

"Any particular reason you're giving me this?" I asked. Sauron raised his eyebrows.

"I know you have homework," he said mildly. I blinked.

"Yeah, but it's not due until Wednesday," I pointed out. "I don't have class tomorrow."

"So you should do it today, and then you don't have to worry about it tomorrow," Sauron replied.

"But I might have a quiz on it on Wednesday, and then it's better to have read the material the night before."

"So read it tonight, and skim it tomorrow, and you'll do even better," Sauron argued. I stared at him in mild shock. There was no way I was going to read it twice.

"After dinner," I said. "I'm hungry."

The delaying tactic only worked for so long, and after dinner I found myself reading my World History textbook. There was no way I was going to re-read it tomorrow, though. I liked history, but found World History too broad for my tastes. Finally though, I finished the two chapters I had to read, and had introduced Sauron to mini cinnamon rolls.

The Maia, meanwhile, had decided to raid my bookcase, and was reading _The Chronicles of Narnia_, something I found rather amusing. I spent the rest of the time before I went to bed catching up on fanfiction. And my last thought before I fell asleep was that all the trouble might be worth it, just to be able to hear a Maia sing.

* * *

**Bit of a filler chapter, but don't worry! Things should be heating up again next chapter. *Sarcasm* lucky me... **


	6. Chapter Five: Tuesday

Tuesday

Tuesday morning, I realized that doom really liked to strike when I wasn't in a position to deal with it. I was in the bathroom this time, getting ready for the day, when I heard a knock on the door. I frowned as I heard Sauron answering it. There was an odd scraping noise, and then the sound of the door shutting: it was quite loud.

Finishing quickly, I opened the bathroom door and walked out.

"Who was at the door?" I asked. In answer, Sauron merely pointed at the boxes at his feet. Two, large, long boxes.

I did what any sane person would do when realizing they were just given two more plushies.

I found the nearest wall, and started banging my head against it.

Before I was quite ready to quit, though, I found another hand placed between me and the wall, and I pulled back to glare at the Maia. It didn't have any effect.

"Don't do that," he told me. "All you'll do is give yourself a headache." Sighing, I conceded the point and walked over to see who else would now be joining the party: and just who had sent them. Quickly, I grabbed the note on top of one of the boxes.

_Hey Skye! _

_I heard that you had joined our little insanity, so I sent you the Ambarussa. Have fun!_

_-Crackers_

I stared blankly at the note in shock. The Ambarussa? Why? I had never written about them, never really even thought about them. I hadn't even made up my mind as to whether or not I liked the idea of Amras dying at Losgar or not.

"Surely it can't be that bad," Sauron's voice cut through my growing panic. I wordlessly handed him the note in answer.

"Alright, maybe it can," I heard him mutter as I headed back into my room for the scissors and my computer. The computer I set on the couch, and set about cutting open the two huge boxes. Once they were open, I realized the twins were a) absolutely identical and, b) completely inanimate.

"I thought one of them was supposed to have darker hair?" I said, slightly uncertainly. Sauron looked over my shoulder at the two.

"There is a slight difference between them," he said, studying them briefly.

"Not to my eyes," I said bluntly. "I'll just call them both Ambarussa, unless I've just heard you call one of them by name, I guess."

"It is there name," Sauron pointed out. I nodded, and opened the computer. With luck, Crackers would be on, and I could ask her just what she was thinking…

Luck was with me. I didn't even bother to start with pleasantries, just asked what was very prominently on my mind.

_Me: Crackers, why the Ambarussa?_

_Crackers: Well, they were buy one, get one free… and you can always use twice the fun, right? :) _

_Me: Really, Crackers?!_

_Crackers: Yes? _

_Me: They're going to kill me. _

_Crackers: In the words of a good friend, try not to die, dear, it's usually fatal. ;) _

_Me: That's my line! ;P_

_Crackers: Whose line? ;) _

_Me: Mine, Mine, Mine, Mine. (I'm now Elwing in seagull form, apparently…)_

_Crackers: Hahaha, now I'll never look at those seagulls-or Elwing-the same again…_

_Me: My Silmaril! _

_Crackers: LOL. Goodness, why must she be a seagull? :D _

_Me: There's only so many things a 'great white bird' can be…_

_Crackers: And I suppose it does rather fit her… ;) _

_Me: *Snickers* Oh, I have to go. They're waking up now. *mutters* They're going to kill me… _

_Crackers: Namarie! And do try not to die. _

_Me: I'll try. But if I do, I'm blaming you. Namarie. _

In a slightly better mood, but still rather worried about my chances of survival with my two newest plushies, I turned my attention to the now stirring twins.

"Er, hi," I said somewhat awkwardly as they stood up. "I'm Amanda. I'm assuming both of you know the basics of what's going on?"

"Yes," one of them replied.

"Good, because I have no idea how I would try to explain if you didn't." Dispassionate stares met that statement, and I restrained a sigh. The one who hadn't answered me glanced around, and stared at Sauron.

"And this is…" he trailed off as the Maia met his gaze, his own darkening.

"Mairon," I said, calmly, but with a good amount of firmness in it. Ignoring the disgruntled looks I got from that, I continued on.

"Anyway, I'm not sure what you're interested in, but I do have history books if you want them, or I can teach you how to use my computer to look up whatever you want, really…?" I let my sentence trail off into a question.

"No," Ambarussa said, with a "thank you," following as almost an afterthought. It raised my hackles slightly, but I have worked in fast food, and kept my composure.

"Well then, what would you like to do?" I asked. They shrugged.

"We don't know," one of them answered me. I bit back my automatic sarcastic response of 'well, that's helpful.' Awkward silence fell for a moment, where the twins' focus returned to Mairon. I didn't miss the tension there, and really didn't want to face it.

"Well, I need to go to the library," I finally decided on. "You are free to come as well, if you wish."

"I believe we will explore the surroundings," Ambarussa said decisively.

"Certainly," I responded. I gave Mairon a questioning look, and received a small nod in answer. I gathered up my computer and my backpack, and ushered out the Elves, closely followed by Mairon. The Ambarussa quickly split from us, but I didn't really relax until I was in my favorite spot in the library, fifth floor, next to the English fiction. Somehow, just knowing I was near my favorite books made me happier.

"You don't actually have anything you need to do, do you," Mairon said quietly when I had settled with my back to a wall.

"Nope," I replied with a sigh. "I just didn't want to deal with that situation. Libraries have been my refuge for quite a few years."

"Well, you could always do that project you need to do," Mairon pointed out reasonably. I just shook my head, and went to find _The Lays of Beleriand_.

We spent most of the day there, leaving only to find food at the less fast-food type places on campus. It was surprisingly relaxing, despite the fact I was dreading what would occur when I did go back home.

But finally, sun long set, I decided I really did need to go back. I had stayed long enough that I could justifiably go to bed when I got home, though I would need to set up new sleeping arrangements. I needed to split up the Ambarussa and Mairon, I knew, but I was still debating how to do that. I decided to put the twins in the front room, but that left either my room or my roommate's room for Mairon.

"You really take this path when you're alone at night?" Mairon's question drew me out of my thoughts. I blinked and looked around.

"Yes," I answered, slightly confused. "Why not?"

"It's rather dark," he pointed out. "And you are taking back ways."

"Well, yes, but I'm cutting through apartment blocks, for the most part," I said. "There _are_ places I wouldn't go after dark, alone or not, but this isn't one of them. Besides, I'm not alone, now am I?"

"Most sane people would say I'm the type of person that you would need to be watching out for," Mairon pointed out slightly sardonically.

"True," I admitted. "But if you decide to hurt me, there's really nothing I can do about that, so there's no point worrying about it. And as long as you feel there's no point in hurting me, you're not going to to let anyone else hurt me either." Mairon gave me a surprised look.

"Am I wrong?" I challenged.

"No," Mairon replied with a slow smile.

"Then see? Nothing to worry about," I said, and we continued on.

When we got to my apartment block, the twins showed up and silently joined us, and I let everyone back in, and started fixing sleeping arrangements. The couches weren't long enough to work split apart, so I ended up stripping them of cushions, as well as pulling the spare mattress from my roommate's room to make the three pallets. I ended up putting Sauron in my room, as I felt uncomfortable putting him in my roommate's room, as it wasn't exactly neat at the moment. Finally though, everyone was settled, and I sank into bed with a grateful sigh.

* * *

**The seagull conversation actually happened, for the most part...yes, we're insane. Haven't you figured that out by now?**


	7. Day Six: Wednesday

**Humor is starting to get old...how about some angst, instead? *innocent smile***

* * *

Wednesday

I was starting to come to the startlingly logical conclusion that my World History class was out to get me. Wednesday's topic: bubonic plague. Ordinarily, I would have found that fascinating. Add two Elves who already looked down on Humans, one Maia I was sure was going, 'And *why* did _Atar_ design them like this?', and 'fascinating' dropped out of the picture to be replaced by 'Oh, for the love of the Valar, why _me?'_

Oodles of fun.

Thankfully, my Irish Genealogy class had been cancelled, or I would have skipped, having absolutely no plans on introducing the Ambarussa to fast food.

I like my head where it is.

Unfortunately, the likelihood of me being able to keep it there was slowly but steadily dropping. The Elves were not bothering to really hide their condescension towards me, or their hatred towards Mairon, and both were starting to really, really annoy me. I am not the most patient of people, and when I get upset I tend to do really stupid things.

I asked Mairon to go to the store to pick up something that I semi-needed, because I almost trusted him with my money, and because I desperately need to split up him and the Ambarussa. That was a mistake. The only good thing was that Mairon was able to give me the names of the Twins before he left, so I knew which one was which.

As the Ambarussa continued to make snide comments about the 'frailty of Mortals', I began to retort back. Before I really knew what was happening, the conversation had become a debate on the edge of an argument.

"Yes, we have instances in our history where large sections of the population die, but as a whole, our species has not been devastated by them," I argued. "In fact, you could say that because we do face such loss and yet keep going is a sign of resilience. It's not like one plague, and suddenly, Men are doomed."

"What do you know of doom," Amras spat.

"Tears unnumbered ye shall shed–" I began to retort without thinking.

In hindsight, throwing the Doom of the Noldor in their faces was one of the stupidest things I could have done. Before I quite knew what was happening, Amrod had grabbed my wrists, and both the Ambarussa were yelling, their voices overlapping until it was hard to understand what they were saying. I winced as the grip on my wrists tightened to a truly painful level. Then yet another voice cut through the cacophony.

"_Let go of her."_ My body reacted before my brain had even made sense of the words, jerking backward so I hit the counter sharply. I quickly came to realize two things. One, over the long ages, mortals had lost the ability to deal with the Maiar in their wrath; even if such an ability had once existed.

And I was undeniably mortal.

Amrod and Amras responded as well, falling silent as Amrod dropped my wrists. They turned to face Mairon, who was glaring at them.

"If that is how you repay hospitality…" Mairon trailed off, shaking his head. "Just get out."

Surprisingly, they obeyed him, and silently left, door slamming as it always did behind them. I took a deep breath, feeling oddly detached from everything. Raising a hand, I noticed I was shaking like a leaf, which was decidedly odd, as even when nervous I rarely trembled.

Mairon sighed, low and controlled, and I returned my attention to him. Keeping his movements slow and obvious, he walked over to me and put an arm around my shoulders, gently pulling me away from the counter and over to the couch. There he left me and went back to the kitchen. I tilted my head back and closed my eyes, only opening them again when Mairon's deliberately audible footsteps halted in front of me. He had towels and ice in his hands, and idly I wondered how he knew where the towels were. Carefully enfolding the ice in the towels, he wrapped them around my wrists, which were already beginning to bruise and swell, then sat beside me. I leaned into him, my normal aversion to touch overridden by the fact I was suddenly very cold and very tired.

"Here, lay down," Mairon murmured, shifting me easily, snagging a pillow and pulling the flower-crocheted blanket that draped over the back of the couch over me. A soft-hummed melody further calmed my ragged nerves, and I quickly fell asleep.

I halfway woke an indeterminate time later to a quiet but vicious argument between Mairon and the Ambarussa: about me.

"She is not telling us everything," one of the Elves hissed. "She keeps secrets from us, and will not tell us what we need to know about this world."

"She has tried to do so, and you have refused everything she has tried," Mairon retorted. "Have you ever actually asked her a question about what you need to know? She doesn't know what you want to know instinctively, you realize."

"She must realize we need the information about this culture she knows. Why does she keep that a secret?" Ambarussa shot back. There was a short pause.

"You feel threatened by her," Mairon said, scorn clear in his voice. "You feel threatened by a young _Adaneth_, who is scarcely more than a child. Which is, of course, the answer to your question: she has never contemplated having to explain her culture to anyone, and really has no idea how to. I have found, however, that she is quite willing to answer questions, which again leads me to: when have you ever asked her anything? Ever since you have arrived you have looked down on the Secondborn, and she is not blind to your attitude."

"Men are weak," one of the Ambarussa replied to that. "They can never measure up to the craft of the Eldar."

"And Elves are weak, and can never measure up to the craft of the Ainur," Mairon retorted. "Even your father never created a star. Men have their own strengths, as do the Eldar. And considering the brevity of their lives, their achievements are all the more remarkable." Here, Mairon gently ran a hand down my face, and the soft touch sent me back into Irmo's realm of dreams.

It was hunger that woke me next. Oddly enough, instead of wanting to fix something quick and easy, I was craving goldenrod, a Great Depression-inspired family recipe. It's fairly simple, just eggs and a flour-based white sauce over toast. It did require actually cooking, but it didn't take long until Mairon and I were eating. I had no idea where the Ambarussa were, and frankly, I was glad they weren't there. I had made enough for them, and left it out, if they ever came back they could eat it if they wanted to.

I headed back to my room, utterly determined to find something to read. Now usually, I'd find some gripping fanfic to take care of this, but I didn't want something dark or heavy, which those fics generally were. Fluff was definitely the genre I wanted. I thought about jumping fandoms, but that old saying about getting back on the horse after being thrown was on my mind, and I decided to stay with LotR. Now, in LotR, fluff generally means Hobbits, of which there are quite a few notable authors. But to combine fluff *and* Hobbits…Well, Shirebound is the first to come to mind.

So I spent the rest of the evening reading Shirebound's Quarantined universe, and surfing TV Tropes, staying up until one in the morning, until I couldn't keep my eyes open for much longer, having been surreptitiously watched by Mairon most of the time. I didn't care. I simply numbed myself as much as possible, and hoped that I wouldn't dream that night.

* * *

**Here, I have to give the disclaimer that I am *not* making up the topics in my World History class. That really is what we talked about that week. The beginning and end of this chapter just *did not* want to be written, which was really, really annoying, but finally I got them...well, written, if not exactly written well. Whatever. I'm still really trying to get this finished before I leave in a week and a half. I only have two more chapters to write...**


	8. Day Seven: Thursday

Thursday

Unfortunately, my hopes did not come to any realization. I woke up twice that night, and the sleep I did get was restless. Morning brought another realization: my wrists had bruised in very clear handprints, and the weather was far too warm to simply wear a hoodie or a long sleeve shirt.

"I'll just have to not go anywhere today or tomorrow or Saturday," I mumbled to myself. "Hopefully they'll be at least partially faded by Sunday, and not so obviously handprints."

"Perhaps," Mairon said, examining them himself. "Or you could come up with an explanation for them."

"I can't think of one that doesn't immediately have the follow up question of 'have you told the police?'" I sighed. "If they were turned the other way I could just say I fell or something."

"That would be easier," Mairon agreed.

"It doesn't really matter though, I don't feel like going anywhere anyway," I muttered. Mairon shot me a concerned look, but I ignored it.

"You need to eat, at the very least," he said, gently prodding.

"Shower first," I replied. It was a delaying tactic, and I'm sure he knew it, but I didn't care.

Showers did always make me feel better, and I didn't get out until I was utterly bored. I was in a better frame of mind when I did, though, and I felt it was worth it. Plus, water is included in my rent (though electricity wasn't). So after I was dressed and my contacts in, I ventured out into the kitchen in search of food.

The Ambarussa were there, but I did my best to simply ignore them, and fixed myself toast. I ate quickly, then headed back to my room, but was stopped.

"Amanda?" one of the Ambarussa said, his voice torn between uncomfortability and formality.

"Yes?" I asked, my voice far more timid than I would wish. I immediately started berating myself.

"We wish to…apologize," the Elf said rather stiffly. I immediately wondered what Mairon had threatened them with.

"We are guests in your home, and our actions were ill-conceived and inconsiderate," he finished. I didn't feel 'ill-conceived and inconsiderate' were the best word to describe what they had done, but I knew it was the best I was going to get.

"I have to apologize as well," I said, my voice (thankfully!) steady. "I should not have brought up the Doom of the Noldor. That was inconsiderate on my part. If you will excuse me?" And with that, I headed straight back into my room. My approach to post-confrontation was definitely avoidance, and I failed to see any reason I needed to spend much time around the Ambarussa. They would be leaving within the next two days, and it would be the last time I would ever see them.

(Valar, _please_ let it be the last time I would ever see them…)

Mairon looked up as I closed the door of my room. He was sitting in my old green armchair, looking slightly ridiculous as my 5'1 mother had specifically bought it because her feet could touch the floor when she sat in it.

"Well, that went well," Mairon commented, as the front door closed with its distinctive slam, heralding the exit of the Ambarussa. I hopped up onto my bed, lying on my stomach.

"You either won the argument or threatened them very effectively," I commented somewhat dryly.

"So you did wake briefly," Mairon said, changing the subject skillfully. "I thought that you had."

"Yes, I did," I replied somewhat lamely. The Maia studied me closely.

"Are you alright?" he asked, startling me into brief laughter.

"I will be," I replied. "I just…I never really got it, when you were all just characters in my head, on the pages of a book…I knew _who_ you were, but I failed to realize _what_ you were. I suppose it's understandable, I had no frame of reference, but it's something that having the lot of you in my apartment has forced me to confront."

"You mean yesterday," Mairon said. I shrugged.

"That was when I couldn't really avoid it anymore," I admitted. "None of you were exactly bothering to hide exactly how powerful you are. It made it quite obvious that to you and the Ambarussa, I am simply a very young child." Mairon snorted.

"You are all young children, as much as the Elves would wish to deny that fact," the Maia said. "I'll tell you a secret though: I like you more than the Ambarussa." I couldn't help but laugh.

"Well, at least that, right?" I said. "If I must be seen as a child, at least I'm a likable one."

"Better than an unlikable one," Mairon cheerfully agreed.

"I wonder how long the Ambarussa will be gone," I mused idly, after a few moments of quiet. Mairon shrugged.

"Probably for a while. I told them to make themselves scarce today," he told me. I raised my eyebrows.

"You told them, hmm? Just how much did you threaten them?" I asked.

"I didn't threaten them," Mairon protested, an incredibly innocent expression on his face that I didn't trust for a moment.

"Of course not," I said sarcastically, but let the matter drop. It seemed clear that he wasn't going to tell me.

The Ambarussa were gone for the rest of the day, which left me wondering again just _what_ Mairon had threatened them with, but I certainly didn't mind. I dug out my cross-stitch that I hadn't worked on for months and spent six hours working on it, leading Mairon to tell me that I should add 'Serindë' to my name. I promptly retorted that cross-stitch was all I was good at, but that I would not mind in the slightest to be apprenticed to Lady Vairë.

I put the needlework away when it was time for dinner, which was a quiet affair as the Ambarussa had returned. With everyone walking on verbal eggshells, not much was said. After dinner, I retreated again to my room, and read until I went to bed. Sleep thankfully found me quickly, aided by the softly hummed melody sung by the Maia lounging half curled in my chair.


	9. Day Eight & Nine: Friday and Saturday

Friday

When a knock sounded on my door Friday, I calmly motioned Mairon to head back into my room, the Ambarussa not there at the moment. I wasn't expecting anyone, but it was still a surprise to find an Elf standing there, with dark hair and grey eyes, his expression speaking of both pride and power.

"Hello," I said, slightly stunned.

"Hello," he replied, slightly disdainfully. "I am Fëanáro Finwion."

"I thought you were annoying Duilin, at the moment," I blurted, my mouth again speaking before my brain had time to tell me what I was saying was a bad idea. Fëanor gave me an annoyed look.

"I was, but as she hasn't updated since last January…" he trailed off meaningfully.

"I see," I said, brain again catching up. "Are you looking for the Ambarussa, then?"

"Yes, I am," he said, seeming glad to return to the topic he wished. "You originally indicated you needed all of your guests gone by the end of the week."

"Ah, yes, I did," I answered. "My roommate will be returning soon, and I doubt she will understand any of this."

"Indeed," was all Fëanor said to answer this.

"If you'll excuse me for a moment, then, I will go try to find them…I'm not exactly sure where they are at the moment," I said, and at Fëanor's nod, I hurried back to my room, where I raised my eyebrows at Mairon. If anyone knew where they were, he would. Silently, he pointed out my window at the small trees behind my apartment building. There they were, thankfully. I wouldn't have to go searching for them.

"Ambarussa!" I called, opening the window. They looked at me. "Your father is here." _That_ got their attention, and they quickly rose to their feet, heading around the side of the building where I lost sight of them. By the time I had shut my window I heard their voices greeting their father. I returned to the front room to find them all ready to go: no surprise there.

"As agreed upon, we shall leave now," Amras said formally. "Farewell."

"Namárië," I replied in Quenya, gaining a semi-approving look from Fëanor.

When they left, I collapsed on my couch, throwing an arm over my eyes. Soft footsteps heralded the arrival of my final guest. I moved my arm, meeting Mairon's questioning gaze.

"I think I'm actually going to survive this whole plushie thing," I said in surprise. That set him to laughing, and I simply replaced my arm, still in slight shock I wasn't dead.

* * *

The next day, Mairon told me it was time for him to leave. I was slightly regretful, but part of me was looking forward to my life returning to normal. He helped me put the apartment back in order, then turned to go. But at the door, he turned and gave me a wink.

"You may see me again, and sooner than you might think," he told me. I raised my eyebrows.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked. He just grinned.

"I can't tell you," he said smugly. "It would ruin the surprise." Then he was gone, leaving me still standing there. Snorting at the eccentricity of the Maiar, or at least that Maia in particular, I settled on my couch, glancing at my spotless apartment before gazing out the window. Silence fell, and suddenly, everything felt very empty.

* * *

**Short, yes. But there will be an epilogue!  
**

**Also: I am putting my computer into long-term storage mode tomorrow evening, so any reviews posted after that time will not be replied to for at least 18 months. So I would love it if you would review quickly. ;) **


	10. Epilogue

Monday

Thanks to Mairon's parting words, I expected to see him again, though I will admit I didn't expect it to be when I was up to my knees in a river.

My apartment complex was doing a little get together slash I'm not sure what, but they had rented a small park next to the nearby river. My roommate and I were both rather excited for it, me because there was going to be a fire and I would possibly get to go wading in the river, and her because there were going to be single guys there.

Remember when I said that one of the reasons the Plushies had to leave before she got back was so she wouldn't flirt with them?

Anyway, the fire turned out to be charcoal briquettes with a few pine logs scattered on top: hardly my idea of a proper fire. So when I saw a few girls slipping down the bank of the river, I leapt at my chance and followed.

I had spent several summers as a child playing with a friend who had an open canal running through her property, and we had always played it in, so I had a good amount of experience with streams. It turned out that thanks to the extremely dry weather we'd had, the river was running only as high as my knees. Normally, it would be at least up to my waist, and above my head in spring runoff season.

So me and the two other girls left shoes and phones on the bank, rolled up our jeans, found some good sticks to help keep our balance on the rocks slick with algae, and headed out into the freezing cold water, having way too much fun. The stress of the past week and a half was completely gone, as I had to focus on keeping my feet on the slippery rocks as well as on my companions.

"Well, I do admit, this is not where I expected to find you," a musical voice hailed me. I turned to find Mairon on the bank with an eyebrow raised. I laughed.

"Come on in!" I invited. "We're heading to that little bank up there." I pointed with the six and a half foot stick I held. Mairon's other eyebrow raised at that, but he shucked his shoes, and without bothering to roll up his pants, waded in.

"Are you not cold?" he demanded as he did so. "This water is freezing." I shrugged.

"My feet and legs have gone numb," I said cheerfully. "I can't feel it at all."

The Maia shot me an incredulous look at that statement. I couldn't blame him. This was a side to my personality he had never seen.

"I feel like we're on a quest," laughed my short-haired companion. "Traipsing across the land, fording rivers…"

"We wouldn't be wading lengthwise if we were!" I retorted with a grin.

"Alright, no we wouldn't," she agreed. "But I still feel we're on a quest. You could be an Elf." I had to laugh at that. It was decided that our red-haired companion was a Hobbit, and my short-haired companion was a human. But when they tried to make Mairon an Elf too, I couldn't resist.

"Nah, he's a Wizard," I said, winking at the Maia, who snorted. "Inside joke," I explained to my new-found friends, whom I was wondering why I hadn't met before this.

"Alright then," my short-haired companion said. "We have a Wizard, an Elf, a Hobbit, and a Human. We're doing well!"

"Just keep an eye out for any Rings," I said dryly.

"Oh my gosh, if Gollum grabbed my ankle, I swear I would scream," my red-haired companion immediately said, again leaving me wondering why I had not met these two before now. It was such a pity I was moving in two weeks.

We continued to make our slow way up the river, heading for the small gravel bank we had decided to make for. I was in the lead, Mairon somewhat to the side, with my short-haired companion next, followed by my red-haired friend. As such, I was the first to spot it: a small, dead, duckling lying washed up on the bank.

"Ah, there's a dead duckling," I called.

"Ew!" my red-haired companion immediately responded, turning around and heading back downstream. But Mairon and my short-haired friend followed me up onto the bank to get a closer look.

"It can't have been dead long," I said. "There's no sign of decomposition. We should build it a cairn." My short-haired friend agreed, and we made short work of taking the large stones that littered the bank and building a small cairn for the poor dead duckling. When we had finished, we turned around and headed back downstream, following our red-haired friend.

"What?" I asked Mairon quietly, as he was looking at me with an odd expression on his face.

"Why did you do that?" he asked me. I shrugged.

"I don't know," I responded. "It just seemed wrong to leave it there unburied. Besides, it didn't take that long to do."

"I suppose not," he replied.

By the time we had gotten back to where we had left our shoes and our phones, it was getting dark. We all climbed out of the river; I kept my stick, though the other two girls left theirs, and Mairon hadn't had one to begin with. My short-haired companion had to go, and we bid her farewell, as we wandered over to the fire. We were getting a bit cold, as we were wet. I used the wet end of my stick to rake the poorly constructed fire together, and raided a nearby bin full of pine logs to build it up to a respectable size, grumbling about how it had been created.

"You seem to know what you're doing," Mairon commented. I grinned at him.

"I like fire," I admitted. "I'm not the best at starting them, but I've learned how to tend them quite well."

We sat their quietly for a time, enjoying the heat of the flames as people began to roast marshmallows, and I stared into the flames, enthralled as always. Eventually, I roasted a few of the gooey treats myself, burning some as I lacked the patience to let them slowly turn a golden-brown. Mairon had more patience than me, and his turned out beautifully.

People slowly began to leave, but I didn't until the fire had burned down and it was fully dark. My roommate wandered over when they were putting out the fire. She spoke to me a bit, flirted with Mairon, then asked if we wanted to hitch along with the ride she'd gotten. Normally I would have taken it, but tonight I declined.

Mairon and I walked back to my apartment slowly, me still with my stick in hand. It was quite a nice stick, and I figured a little work on it would make it even better.

"Well, this is the end," Mairon said quietly. "I suppose you'll be thankful to get back to your life."

"I don't know," I said honestly. "This week was hard and confusing…but it was also a lot of fun."

"Well, that's good," Mairon said. "I suppose it seems like just a crazy dream."

"Not really," I said with a slow smile, the ending of the Lord of the Rings coming to mind as I glanced up at the star-strewn heavens.

"I feel like I'm falling asleep again."

* * *

**And I'm done! Namárië to all my readers, and I'll see you in 18 months! **


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